


How to care for your strays

by Killer_Rabbit_of_Caerbannog



Series: Along came a spider [1]
Category: The Avengers - All Fandoms
Genre: M/M, Superfamily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-15
Updated: 2012-08-15
Packaged: 2017-11-12 05:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/487116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killer_Rabbit_of_Caerbannog/pseuds/Killer_Rabbit_of_Caerbannog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>First, second, and third time Steve and Tony become fathers - an exploration of the steps Steve and Tony take in parenting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How to care for your strays

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by and hugely based on the magnificent drawings by the lovely Mandylasers on tumblr. Thank you for everything, you perfect person you, and here are my tokens of appreciation.

##### The first time Steve becomes a father

More often than not, Steve ignored Tony’s suggestions; they were often either ridiculous or too convoluted for him to even attempt to understand. Which was probably the reason they fought so much as well, what with Tony going ahead with whatever he wanted to do and then Steve ending up screaming at him in a mix of anger and concern.

Recently, however, there was one point that Tony offhandedly kept repeating that struck a chord with him. “You’re such a dog person, cap,” Tony would mutter, or, “I really should get you a dog to fawn over when I’m busy, geez,” or even, “I’m _not_ going jogging with you! You want a running companion, get a dog.” Hundreds of little variations, but all saying the same thing: let’s get a dog, Steve.

 Steve had never had a pet in his life, something he’d long regretted, and now, living in an enormous mansion surrounded by an equally large garden, there was no issue of space or money.

He hadn’t woken up that day and thought, “I’m going to get a dog.” He’d had no plans or even the intention of _looking_ for one, but that morning he’d left a still sleeping Tony in bed and went for his early morning jog and it had just _happened_.

The mutt was thin as a twig, bones jutting out and skin hanging loose, fur dirty and even missing in patches, and had skittered away in fear when Steve approached. Crouching beside the dumpster, he lowered his voice, gently coaxing with a soft litany of assurances that sounded oddly like the things he’d say to Tony. The mongrel whined, tail between its legs, and cowered behind a pile of trash as it peered out at him.

It took nearly half an hour before the little mutt finally allowed Steve to shuffle closer on his knees and gently pet the small head. It gave his hand a tentative lick.

Steve’s heart melted.

Slowly, ever so slowly and gently, he scooped up the dog and carried it back to the mansion, never ceasing his soft stream of assurance into matted fur. Obviously, they had no dog food at home, but Steve simply took the steaks marked ‘THOR’ from the fridge and cut them into tiny chunks. The mutt had slunk under the kitchen chairs, whimpering softly, but the temptation of food and Steve’s soft voice was enough to encourage it out again.

It was nearing 8 a.m. and the others would soon be waking up. Not wanting to frighten the poor thing, Steve carried it upstairs and after a moment’s thought, snuck into the huge en suite in his and Tony’s room. The dog began shaking and whining softly under its breath as Steve began filling the tub with warm water, but it was too filthy and a bath would do it good, so he shucked his clothes and eased the two of them in.

Massaging the shampoo (Tony’s) gently into the fur, dirt and grime gave way to a soft brown pelt that made Steve smile. “Good boy, Anthony,” he crooned to the dog, who turned and gave him a small lick on his chin.

There was a shuffle at the door and Tony stumbled in, sharp-eyed despite obviously not having had his coffee yet. He seemed to possess an almost superhuman sense when it can to Steve being potentially naked and/or wet. “Bath time?” he said hopefully, only to freeze when he spotted the dog.

The short pause was broken by the dog whining again.

Steve pasted on his best smile (the one that Tony seemed unable to say no to, but Steve refused to feel bad about manipulating him like that, because there were so few weapons at his disposal that allowed him to one-up the other man as it was) and rubbed the dogs wet head affectionately.

“His name’s Anthony,” he said proudly, beaming at Tony. “Isn’t he the cutest?”

“You brought a rat home?” said Tony flatly.

 “That just ‘cause he’s all wet and skinny,” said Steve, dropping a kiss to a black nose. “He’ll be so handsome once he’s a bit fatter, shiny brown hair and big brown eyes. Who can resist that?”

Tony blinked, but then his face softened.

Steve knew he had won, and smiled shyly now. “You don’t mind, do you?” he asked, suddenly unsure.

“Nah, dogs are fine, had one when I was a kid myself.” Tony eyed them for a long moment, and then smiled that soft smile that made Steve’s heart squeeze tight. He moved over, brushing lips against Steve’s in a warm kiss. “Dog’s good.”

Steve relaxed happily. Tony’s eyes crinkled in a smirk. “Anthony, huh?”

Steve blushed. “Shut up!”

Tony leaned in for another kiss and abruptly froze.

“Wait a min- DID YOU USE MY SHAMPOO?”

 

 

##### The first time Tony becomes a father

Tony will never admit it out loud, but he loves having Anthony for company, giving the excitable mutt a warm grin whenever he wandered over and jumped up onto Tony’s lap, giving a tiny lick to his chin and then curling up happily. Tony allows it only because he loves the little guy.

That’s how Steve finds them, Tony alone in the lounge-room with his laptop perched on his knees due to Anthony taking pride of place in his lap.

“Toooonyyy,” Steve says in that special way that means he wants something that Tony won’t like.

He lances up suspiciously and immediately shouts, “Oh, hell _no_. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The golden retriever wagged its tail frantically, tongue lolling out of its mouth as it gives Tony the biggest puppy-dog eyes. Tony wants to call ‘not fair’, because he’s being double-teamed by Steve’s hopeful puppy look too, and he has zero hope of standing up to a double whammy.

“Seriously? Again?” he growls, pointedly petting Anthony on the head. This turns out to be a mistake, because the previously dozing dog is alerted to the newcomer’s presence and yaps nervously, wriggling in Tony’s lap as he eyes the much larger dog.

“Tony, they were going to put him down, I couldn’t just _leave_ him!” Steve wheedles, giving the dog a squeeze. He squirms excitedly, straining towards the other two and Steve has to put him onto the floor.

The golden retriever immediately rushes over to inspect Anthony, sniffing the smaller dog with interest. Anthony, who is usually a shy yet sweet dog, growls at the newcomer, bristling on Tony’s lap. The retriever tries putting its front paws up on the side of the chair, but Anthony’s quick to growl and snap at the other’s muzzle warningly, and the retriever drops back down, whining sadly.

“Good boy,” says Tony proudly, stroking Anthony’s back.

Steve scowled. “Don’t encourage that kind of behaviour!”

In the end, it takes over a fortnight for Anthony to warm up to the golden retriever Steve had christened ‘Bucky’, the larger dog trailing behind him hopefully, every now and then trying to coax Anthony into playing together. Whenever that happened, Anthony would scamper away – at first to Steve, but soon realising that his blond owner wanted them to get along, would stay with Tony, who vehemently refused to allow the too excitable and clumsy Bucky into his workshop.

Eventually, though, Bucky’s constant attempts in befriending Anthony pay off, and the two were both happy to play and go on runs with Steve (but Bucky was forbidden from Tony’s workshop after attacking Dummy and knocking over a blowtorch).

“Huh,” Tony says, taking in the state of his closet.

“What – but – I mean, how did – I don’t understand!” Steve babbles, eyes round with shock.

Tony scowls accusingly at Steve. “Oh yeah, ‘neutered’ my ass. Didn’t even bother to check, did you?”

Steve continued shaking his head. “That’s what the people at the pound _said_ , how was I supposed to know?”

Tony points at his closet floor. “ _That’s_ how you know – when your dog has puppies all over your boyfriend’s shoes. They were _designer_ , by the way. That’s hundreds of dollars worth of retail down the drain.”

Steve straightens and glares. “Your _shoes_? That’s what you care about here, your _shoes_? Bucky just gave birth and you care about your shoes! I mean, look at them all.”

Steve crouches and coos over the ten squirming little pups. Tony scoffs but also bends for closer look. “I don’t think ‘Bucky’ really works anymore, what with the miraculous gender swap we’re now privy to.”

“Peggy then,” says Steve decisively, and Tony, looking startled and a little jealous, remains silent and simply nods.

Anthony trots up beside them, looking proud. Tony grins, rubbing the fluffy head. “Nice work there, bud, looks like you were more on the ball than us, huh? Guess you like the taller women, I can respect that. You must’ve worked hard to do the deed though; she’s a hell of a lot bigger than you are.”

He smirks at Steve’s scandalised ‘Tony!’ and reaches out a hand to stroke a finger over a tiny, warm body. He smiles, eyes dark and a little subdued.

“You’re a daddy now, Anthony,” he murmurs softly.

 

 

 

 

##### The first time Steve and Tony become fathers

Ever since the re-christened Peggy had had puppies, Tony had been slightly off. The entire household had noticed it and had all looked at Steve as the one to blame, even though he and Tony had barely spoken since then.

And then they’re on a mission, dealing with OsCorp’s leading scientist Dr. Mendel Stromm, who’d been secretly doing illegal experimenting in hopes of producing his own super-serum. Stromm, wearing a cybernetic suit and dosed up on his super drug, it took a long and hard battle before the Avengers could finally overpower and capture Stromm.

Steve thinks nothing of it when Tony doesn’t accompany them back to headquarters, the fight had exhausted them all and only Steve and Natasha had volunteered to escort the Doctor back.

Its midway through breakfast the following morning before JARVIS finally speaks up, calmly announcing the bedraggled group in the kitchen that Tony had yet to return home or to the Tower.

Steve would like to say he didn’t panic, but a montage of every conceivable disaster that could have befallen Tony plays itself through his head and before he knows it, he’s shouting orders to the others and scrambling to suit up. They make it to S.H.I.E.L.D. in record time, Natasha angrily taking over command to bark instructions at the agents on the monitors.

One of the agents looks up. “Ma’am, we’ve got an incoming call from Miss Potts. Shall I put it through?”

Natasha pauses, considering, and then nods.

There’s a beep as the phone connects to the system. “Miss Potts?” says Natasha aloud.

There’s a pregnant pause before a weary voice comes over the loud speaker, _“Hey ‘Tasha.”_

Everyone stiffens, before Steve’s elbowing his way forwards. “ _TONY?_ What the hell is _wrong_ with you?” he screams, furious enough not to care that he swore. “Where are you?”

_“Um, at Pepper’s. Look, I can expla-”_

“Explain? _Explain_? What _possible_ reason is there that you didn’t even bother calling to tell us where you were all this time? WE THOUGHT YOU WERE MISSING! OR _DEAD_!”

Thor has to drag Steve from the monitor, so furious that his grip was denting the metal and the computers gave alarmed beeps.

Natasha takes over once more. “Do mind filling us in on this grievous lapse in sanity, Stark?” she says, all cold fury that practically crackles in the air.

Over the phone, Tony sounds rather nervous. _“Er, yeah, see, about that. I, um, wasn’t sure how- well, it’s not that I didn’t trust you guys, per se. It’s more that, you know, I didn’t know how you’d handle it, is all. And I kinda panicked, and when I panic I normally go to Pepper, ‘cause she always knows what to do with me, and then I got side-tracked, and, um, yeah.”_

The following silence is sharp enough you could sharpen a knife on it.

“Tony,” says Natasha finally, “Was there an actual explanation in all that rambling?”

_“Oh, uh, heh, yeah, guess I didn’t really say, did I? Um, actually, this might not go over well on the phone, so could you, you know, just head back home and we can do this in person?”_

“Or you could come here,” replies Natasha, and there’s a thinly veiled threat in her voice.

_“Here? Er, I don’t know if S.H.I.E.L.D. is the best place to do thi-”_

“Think of it this way,” says Natasha calmly, “Here at least there’ll be witnesses in case we do decide to go ahead and murder you.”

The gulp is audible over the speakers.

_“Guess I’ll see you in a few?”_ Tony says tentatively, and hangs up.

It takes four minutes for Tony to arrive, still in his battered armour, and looking sheepish. Steve wants to yell at him, he really does, but-

“Hey, guess it’s my turn to bring home a stray,” Tony jokes half-heartedly, but Steve’s too busy goggling at the tiny infant cradled in his arms. At the sound of Tony’s voice, a tiny foot kicks free, little toes curling within the thick wool of its jumpsuit. Steve can’t help reaching out a finger to touch the small foot, which shoves back against his hand hard.

Realising there are others in the room; the baby turns inquisitive brown eyes on them all and gurgles happily, waving tiny fists.

Surprisingly, Thor is the first to melt.

“What a fine infant you have sired, my good friend,” he says, thumping Tony on the back hard enough to make him stumble, despite the suit. Steve’s arms jerk forwards in an unconscious motion, making to catch the baby should he fall.

Tony flushes, scowling at Thor. “Oh my god, he’s not _mine_! I freaking _found_ him.”

Bruce steps forward, eyeing the baby curiously. “Let me guess – in a madman’s laboratory. He’s one of Stromm’s experiments, isn’t he?”

Clint and Natasha glance at one another in alarm, and Tony immediately launches on the defensive.

“Yeah, okay, I found him in the labs, but what was I supposed to do? Kill him? He’s just a baby, and yeah, maybe he is an experiment, but he’s not dangerous or anything. I mean, for crying out loud, we’ve got an experiment in super-serum right here, and he turned out fine.”

He’s being tactless again, but that’s a given when he’s nervous and he starts babbling, so Steve pays it no mind. He starts to ask Tony what he’ll do with the baby, but a dark voice interrupts.

“And you think you’re the one to look after the kid?” Director Fury says, marching into the room and looking, frankly, more than ready to throw Tony’s shapely rear in a cell.

In the way only Tony seems able when in trouble and faced with an authority figure, he swells with unfounded confidence and smirks. “Hey, no worries, Director! You know you can trust your consultant, and all that. ‘Sides, us Stark men have a good track record dealing with products of experimentation, right Stevie?”

Steve wants to shove him badly for that, but he resists, mindful of the baby. Tentatively, he reaches out and touches a finger to one round cheek. The baby swivels large eyes towards him, and very carefully wraps a small hand around Steve’s finger, gripping tightly.

He looks up at Tony, silent awe in his eyes, and Tony smiles crookedly. “Are you up for being a daddy?” he says softly, words meant for his ears alone.

Steve’s eyes are suddenly wet and no amount of blinking will clear it. He swallows back tears, but words fail him – he nods, moving in closer. Wrapping an arm around Tony’s shoulders, he pulls them both into his embrace, chanting silently in his head, _“I love you, I love you, I love you.”_

With a knowing smile, Tony leans up to brush a soft kiss to his lips. Pressed snugly between their chests, the baby coos happily.

Behind them, Director Fury sighs. “Just what we need, another Stark. What’s his name?”

Tony shoots him a sunny smile. “It’s Peter.”


End file.
